His Reluctant Savior (The District #3)

16. Chapter 16

I blinked my eyes open in the early morning to find Sid sleeping soundly next to me, and he was not a snorer. I stared at his handsome profile, trying to grasp how we got here, and ended up having sex after four days, running together. What was I getting myself into with him? If we lived through this, could I seriously consider getting involved with him?

Most of the killers I’d studied at Quantico were remorseless and had no empathy. Sometimes there was regret when passion was involved. But trained killers? There had to be a hardness and pushback on morals to do what they did. Yet, Sid had regrets and empathy, from what I could tell. Did that make him worse or better? I wasn’t sure.

What did that make me by having sex with an assassin? And so effortlessly. It wasn’t about him being a killer, but him being Sid Virgil, the hurt and angry boy I used to know.

I also needed to be realistic. That wasn’t just sex or a fuck last night. It was intense and passionate. It wouldn’t have been like that had we not had some deeper connection. The sex wasn’t just for a release but a combining of two souls… at least it felt that way to me. Then again, I’d always put more meaning behind sex than other men.

“You’re staring awfully hard,” he mumbled, his eyes still shut, the edges crinkling from his small smile. It was a reminder of how many years had passed between us… long enough to get some gray hairs and wrinkles, but still young enough to have amazing sex.

“I’m questioning my sanity about all this.”

“Yeah, you might be a little crazy… crazy for me.”

I rolled my eyes, unable to hide my smile.

“Seriously, are you regretting it?” he asked, turning his head toward me, his eyes now open.

“No, but I should be.”

His smirk was drowsy as he pulled me against him. I took a deep breath of his sleepiness. “See, you’re just crazy for me. I’m so irresistible that I’m driving you mad. It’s part of my charm.”

“I’ll take that,” I chuckled.

Sid pulled away, stretched, and yawned loudly. “We’ve got to talk to my guy today.”

As soon as he said that, Sid’s phone buzzed .

He sat up and quickly answered it.

“You got something?” he asked.

I couldn’t hear what was on the other line, but Sid turned to look at me.

“Can you talk to him? You two need to talk.”

There was some yelling on the other line, which grew louder as soon as Sid hit the speaker button.

“He can hear you, Veil,” I said.

“Goddammit! I didn’t give you fucking permission. You know I don’t trust the Feds! I don’t like being fucked up the ass like you do, Virgil! Asshole.”

“You can trust me, Veil.”

He scoffed on the other end. “Please, none of you can be trusted. I’ve seen who’s after you, buddy.”

I looked at Sid as my gut twisted.

“I swear you can trust me. You’ve gone out of your way to help me through Sid. I’m not about to do anything to you. I’m fucking grateful. Please…”

“I swear to fucking god, Sid, you owe me like ten million favors.”

Sid chuckled. “You got it.”

“First, after some digging, the ones who tried to kill you yesterday morning at Sid’s place are the fucking Bratva. These people who are after you aren’t messing around. They’re fucking stupid, too. Desperate. Desperation creates mistakes. Not only did they hire Sid’s organization, but the Bratva, along with a smaller assassin syndicate. There are a couple of others I’m digging into, but I can’t tell who yet. They’re much better at covering their tracks. I only know about yours, Sid, because you told me. Anyway, too many people are involved. Something’s going to slip.”

“And people are going to die. Do you have any names?” I asked.

“Jesus… What did I get myself into? Or better question, what the fuck did you get me into, Virgil?” He sighed over the phone and his computer keyboard clicked away. “Yeah, I’ve got names… this is all fucked up. I’m going to shoot you everything I’ve found. After some deep diving, I discovered the person who sent you the video and warnings… I think. Do you know Evelyn Vega?”

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “Shit, yeah. We went to grad school together over at Georgetown University. She’s the Chief of Staff to Congressman Henry Fines.”

“Yeah? Well, she’s dead as of two days ago. They must have found out she was the one who sent you everything.”

“Fuck me,” I said. My stomach twisted and my hands shook. Sid looked at me with sympathy before standing up from the bed and headed toward the kitchenette to make us coffee. “God, poor Evelyn. We remained friends after graduating. She went on to work over at the Capitol before moving up to become Chief of Staff about five years ago.”

Veil continued with his report. “The police found her in her tub, bleeding out from slit wrists and a suicide note, but it smells fishy to me. I found out about the suicide, which seemed too coincidental and too closely tied to the time you ran, especially for someone high up on the political chain. So, I traced threads and leads until I found the hit put out on her after hacking into her boss’s computer, taking evidence that didn’t belong to her. Not only did I find the hit, but she had sent evidence to someone they were hunting. The video and you are assumptions on my part, but there are way too many coincidences. You’re the only one being hunted as of right now, so I put two and two together. But now that I’m sure you know her, I’m convinced I’m right.”

“You must have been the only one she could trust,” Sid said as he dumped coffee grounds into the coffee maker. “Just as I suspected.”

“Well, her congressman was definitely involved that night. She must have been there or found out about it,” Veil explained.

I thought about what he was saying. It was a possibility. But it could’ve been anyone who snagged the video. They could’ve sent it on to the Congressman or Evelyn. “Maybe, but I don’t see her going there and pretending to stay silent. She would’ve fought hard. No, someone must have sent the video to her, or…”

Sid walked over to the bed and handed me a steaming cup of coffee with a teaspoon of sugar, the way I liked it. I took a sip as he said, “Maybe, but if she was there, they killed that girl, and they tried to cover it up… I doubt she would’ve been that vocal. Evelyn would’ve been terrified. It’s more likely someone sent it to her. Or perhaps she caught her boss watching it? Or found it on his computer? He could be involved.”

I shook my head. “It’s all speculation at this point, and we may never know for sure unless she left behind some sort of other evidence in case she died. But what we do know is she sent me a copy of that video and warned me to run. Now, she’s dead for it.”

“A lot of money has been secretly trading hands for silence. She’s the first person to die, and you’re on the hit list, but that’s all I can find. I’m assuming because it’s only you two who know about what went down that night and pose the biggest threat, beyond those directly involved,” Veil said.

I looked at the phone resting on the bed, holding the steaming mug to warm my cold hands. “Do you think you could find any other hits?”

“I’m keeping my digital eyes on everything, but it’s risky for me, too. I’m bouncing globally using proxy servers and VPNs. My data is encrypted, but if I can find them, there are always people who can find me, so I can’t stay on long. If the DOJ is involved, they could utilize the NSA. And if they catch me sniffing around, we’re all fucked.”

Sid took a sip of his coffee before sitting back down on the bed with me. “That’s rather pessimistic of you. You’re one of the best, Veil.”

The man scoffed on the other end. “I’m also not a fucking idiot.”

Sid rubbed my back, which was strangely sweet and domestic of him. “They won’t get the NSA involved. The NSA would learn of what went down. These men are powerful, but I doubt they’re powerful enough to buy off the entire National Security Agency.”

“Do you have any more information on this party where the girl died?” I asked Veil.

“Nope. All is silent. But if I had to guess? This was a party to meet the sexual needs of powerful men, which involved young girls and boys who’d been trafficked. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last, nor is it as uncommon as you think. The fucking rich are weird as hell, man. They do some real fucked up shit because they believe they’re impervious and can do whatever the hell they want. The stories I’ve discovered in the past will have you questioning the goodness of humanity, and this comes from someone who generally doesn’t give a fuck.”

I sighed, grateful for more information, but disappointed that we didn’t have more details about that party. If it was some trafficking ring, we needed to put a stop to it, on top of everything else. But if you took one down, another would just crop up. It was just too lucrative. Even worse, Evelyn was dead. Jesus.

“Anyway, the list of those involved is on its way. I may not know about the party, but between Speaker Jonathan Rush, Deputy Chief Wesley Mardsen, and Congressman Henry Fine, we can speculate judging by their close friends, which involve some very wealthy men who probably not only helped make their careers, but helped make all this happen in the first place, so they’re probably involved, too. It’ll take more digging on my end.”

Sid tipped back his coffee mug and finished his drink. “Thanks for all this, Veil.”

“Yeah, thanks,” I said. “Sid owes you and I owe you. If and when I get back to the FBI, I’ll do you a solid.”

Veil chuckled. “Now that I’ll take.”

I’d never done anything criminal in my life, but at that point, I was desperate. Veil was risking his life for me, someone he didn’t know or trust. It was the least I could do.

“Anyway, if I see any other hits coming up, I’ll ping you,” Veil said. “Oh, by the way, the bodies at your place were gone by the time my team got there, but the place is clean.”

After we hung up, Sid sat next to me and pulled me against him. He sure was touchy this morning, which was a surprise.

“I’m sorry about your friend. ”

“Thanks. Me, too. This just proves that I have to fix this. I have to do it not only for me but for her. She saved my life, Sid.”

“She also put it at risk by sending you that video.”

“Evelyn did the right thing by sending it to me. Yes, it put Owen and me at risk, but she understood that if anyone would push this to get out and get those men behind bars, it was me.”

Sid stood, dug into his bag, and pulled out a T-shirt, tossing it over his head and tugging on a pair of jeans. I also got dressed, still naked from last night. My ass was sore as hell, but I couldn’t focus on that. It had been amazing connecting with Sid, but we needed to focus on what was important. It was time to get down to business. I couldn’t risk anyone else getting killed.

“I’m going to be honest, Sid. You’re my only resource. I’m not sure what to do or where to go from here. This is beyond my experience. My initial response was to make copies of what I had and to get Owen to safety. Beyond that, I have no other means to hunt these men down. Should I just turn the evidence over to the media? Would they be bought off, and the story buried? It would have to be to the right journalist, someone who’s not afraid to get the truth out, but someone who’s big and can make a difference. Shit, you can’t even trust the media to do the right thing these days. They’re as power-hungry as these men.”

Sid grabbed my hands, tugged me up to stand, and pulled me against him like he just knew I needed to be held. He defied everything I understood about the criminal mind. Between Sid and my own country hunting me… I was questioning everything.

“What I think we should do is call my family and get them involved. ”

I tried to push him away as I shook my head. “No, they’ll kill you. No way.”

“I think I can convince them to do this for me. My partner and I have known each other for over twenty years and have been running our little business together for about eleven years. We’re close friends. He’ll listen to me before making any decisions about my demise.”

For the first time, I was certain about Sid. I didn’t want to let him go, and I didn’t want him to die. I cupped his face and gave him a small and soft kiss before pulling away. “No. We can do this together. There are three of us. Surely, we can figure it out. Please.”

Sid grinned and punched his hips into me. “Falling for me already. See how irresistible I am? One night having sex, and you’re addicted.”

I smacked his chest. “I’m being serious, Sid. Dammit!”

He sighed and nodded. “Okay… For now, I won’t approach them, but we need to keep moving and figure it out as we go. Perhaps finding the right journalist could work in our favor. Someone who’s a Boy Scout like you… or a Girl Scout. And I’ll have Veil keep working his magic. The deeper we go, the longer it’s going to take. We can’t stay in one spot for long.”

“I need to call Owen once in a while, not only to make sure he’s okay, but I…”

“You need to hear his voice,” Sid finished for me.

“Yeah.”

“Once we’re on the road again, call him on one of the burners. But first, I need to go back to the farmhouse and grab some things that we didn’t get a chance to grab as we ran out of there. ”

My eyes grew wide. I swear this man was going to be the death of me if I wasn’t killed first. “No!”

Sid grabbed my shoulders and eased me back before rubbing them. “I won’t be gone long. There’s some gear we could use, and I need my laptop.”

“Then, I’m coming with you.”

“Nope. You stay here. I won’t be gone longer than a few hours. Then, I’ll go hunt for another car. Ugh, I’m going to miss my baby Bronco .”

“I’m so sorry.”

Sid raised a brow. “Stop apologizing. I made a choice and I’m sticking with it. But maybe just let me complain a little.” He winked before walking away and headed to the bathroom to get cleaned up.